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Australian Junior Ice Hockey League
The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an Australian junior ice hockey league sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia. The league is open to players 20 years of age or younger and is a national competition competing during the summer season in Australia. The league was formed in 2012 and its first season starting in the same year with the commencement of the 2012 AJIHL season which ran from October 20, 2012 to March 17 2013. The AJIHL season runs from October to March. The AJIHL currently has six teams based in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. History The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on September 18, 2012 by Ice Hockey Australia. The inaugural season consisted of four teams – Melbourne Blackhawks, Melbourne Red Wings, Sydney Lightning and the Sydney Maple Leafs, with teams being operated by their respective state governing body. The first season started on October 20, 2012 at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne and ran until March 2013 with the finals to be held on the 9 and 10 March 2013. The Sydney Maple Leafs won the inaugural AJIHL finals after beating the Melbourne Red Wings in a tie-breaking sudden overtime period after the teams leveled the two game series. The Maple Leafs had defeated the Sydney Lightning the week before in the Sydney semi-final, while the Red Wings won the Melbourne semi-final against the Blackhawks 7–3 to progress into the final. In August 22, 2013 it was announced that Ice Hockey Victoria were renaming the two Melbourne teams for the 2013–14 season. The Melbourne Blackhawks were renamed as the Melbourne Whalers and the Melbourne Red Wings became the Melbourne Glaciers. The following month the Sydney Maple Leafs were renamed the Sydney Wolf Pack and the Sydney Lightning changed their name to the Sydney Sabres. The changes were made in response to the National Hockey Leagues concern about the AJIHL using their team names and logos, as well as an opportunity to create new history for the teams. First Expansion In October 2013 the league expanded to six teams with two teams from Perth, the Sharks and the Pelicans, joining for the start of the 2013–14 season. It is expected that the AJIHL will further expand in 2015-16 to include 3 new teams from Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra. The Sydney-based teams play their homes games at the Penrith Ice Palace in Penrith, New South Wales, the Melbourne-based teams play out of the O'Brien Group Arena in Docklands, Victoria. and the Perth-based teams play out of the Xtreme Ice Arena in Mirrabooka, Western Australia. Second Expansion At the beginning of the 2015-16 AJIHL season, a proposal for the next expansion in the AJIHL was made by Ice Hockey Australia to include teams from the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. A Wild Card entry was created in the AJIHL playoff structure, but no further public information would be made available for months despite plans to form junior teams in each of these states being underway. Teams There are Currently 6 teams in the AJIHL, representing the Australian cities Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. On the 21 January 2016 a Tier 2 extension of the AJIHL was announced which would consist of a round robin style tournament and playoff to pick a wild card entry into the AJIHL finals. Currently 3 teams are in the AJIHL Tier 2 league, representing the Australian cities Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra. Champions * 2013 Sydney Maple Leafs * 2014 Sydney Sabres * 2015 Sydney Wolf Pack * 2016 Sydney Sabres References Category:Ice hockey leagues